


Forest Clearing

by Good_Or_Bad_Luck



Category: Lumberjanes
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dungeons and Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, dnd, rated teen for the word FUCK, what the FUCK do i tagg this as!!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 15:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17748572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Good_Or_Bad_Luck/pseuds/Good_Or_Bad_Luck
Summary: Molly Crown-Forager didn't look back, not even as the town disappeared behind her.Mal Water-Treader left the city in the dead of night, hoping no one would follow them.Ripley Moon-Born left the town, promising to return with the missing noble.Jo Steam-Smith left the city, less interested in a bounty and more interested in revenge.April Stone-Skill followed a friend, seeking answers to questions left unknown.Clearing; noun, an open space in the forest. A perfect place to stop and rest.





	Forest Clearing

            Few days after the fire ravaged a village, and a few days after a murder shook a city to its core, Molly Crown-Forager came across a forest, she had no reason to fear it, and she entered. For a while, she traveled through it, until night fell and she came across a clearing, in its center stood a cabin. As Molly approached the cabin, she was stopped but the sound of someone running and frantic shouts, startled, she dived behind a tree and waited.

 

            Mal Water-Treader was known for many things, her ironic name, her thieving, and her bounty for the slaughter of rich folk in her city. Mal, however, was not known to run directly into dark woods. Behind them, two people were shouting, one half-elf with a voice that had a distinct feeling. It was bent on vengeance, and Mal knew she was the target. The other was a dwarf, their voice was something Mal swore she knew, and it sounded like confusion, like the dwarf wanted answers to a long unanswered question. Mal saw a clearing up ahead, she ran to it, and past it, or she thought. In less then a few moments she was back in the clearing, the half-elf was angry and had a staff raised ready to attack, the dwarf, with an ax at the ready, determination yet confusion pouring off of her in waves. Mal was frozen on the spot, and for the first time, she realized that the deal might also include her life as payment.

 

            Molly watched the half-orc run out of the clearing then back into it, seemingly confused she was there. Molly also saw the half-elf and the dwarf enter the clearing, she didn't know why they were hunting the half-orc, and more importantly. She didn't care. Molly drew her bow and entered the clearing, beside the half-orc, and her bow aimed at the wizard, "What's going on here? Why are you attacking her?”

            There was a strange silence that fell upon the clearing.

            “Don’t you know?” The half-elf growled at Molly, “This, thing, is a wanted criminal, she murdered an entire group of people and wounded another she deserves to pay!” A wave of magic surged around the clearing from the half-elf, the half-orc fell backward and started to shift away.

            “I, I, no, I had to- there was no- you don’t understand- I didn’t want to hurt anyone!” The half-orc choked up.

            Molly lowered her bow ever so slightly and looked over her shoulder at the half-orc.

            They were shaking and crying, with tears streaming down her face.

            Molly looked back at the half-elf and dwarf, they seemed, shocked, almost, but not quite.

            “She isn’t a murderer, I can tell that much,” 

            There was a soft gasp from behind Molly, the half-orc had stood up and was now standing behind Molly, still shaking. Neither duos at either side of the clearing moved.

 

            Ripley Moon-Born watched from the treetops. She saw the human archer readily defend the now famous killer, she also saw the half-orc crying and shaking.

            Killers… aren’t supposed to do that, Ripley thought.

            Ripley climbed down from the trees and entered the clearing.

            “Hey!” She shouted.

            The archer’s turned to face her swiftly, the half-elf and dwarf doing the same.

            Ripley didn’t flinch, she was terrified, but she didn’t flinch.

            “I saw what this was all about, and, it doesn’t matter right now,” Ripley said.

            “That half-orc is a murderer,” The dwarf said, taken aback, “ it's kinda the only thing that matter right now,”

            “No?” Ripley said, “Can’t you feel it, there’s something weird about the forest!”

            The half-orc looked over at Ripley and nodded.

            Ripley said, “Yeah, it's weird,”

            “What does that have to do with anything?” The half-elf growled.

            The half-orc whispered something into the human’s ear, whose face shifted into one of fear and confusion.

            “Have any of you tried to, leave the clearing yet?” The human asked.

            “N, no?” The dwarf asked, “Why?”

            The half-orc whispered again into the human’s ear.

            “I, I don’t think it wants us to leave,” The archer said, “I mean, the forest,”

            “Bulllll shit,” The half-elf replied.

            “We could test it,” The dwarf said, “And how about our non-hostile human friend here?”

            Ripley gave the dwarf a thumbs up, “I’ll be right back,”

            Ripley turned and ran into the dark forest, the further from the clearing she got, the darker it became. Ripley could barely see anything, and then.

            And then she collided with the dwarf, knocking them both to the ground with a loud  _ oof _ .

            “Oh,” Ripley said, “Hi again,”

            “That- isn’t how- you shouldn’t have,” The half-elf sputtered, “What’s going on?”

            No one answered, and all sound seemed to stop and time stood still.

            For a while, it stayed like that, until the archer spoke.

            “That can wait until it's not midnight, we might just be confused and getting turned around in the woods,”

            The human put her bow away and walked to the cabin, opening the door.

            “You’re going to break into someone’s cabin?” The half-elf asked, in a monotone voice.

            “You have any other options?” The dwarf asked, standing up, she reached down to help Ripley up.

            The half-elf huffed and turned to the half-orc, “Fine, but after all of this I’m taking you back to get the bounty and get justice,”

            The half-orc nodded, “Okay, I’ll come with you.”

            The half-elf was silent.

 

            Mal was the last into the cabin, the inside was baren, save for three bunk beds, almost all of them with an object on it.

            “This is, strange,” The half-elf said.

            “Oh, ya don’t say?” Mal muttered to herself, she walked over to one of the bottom bunks, there was a small bracelet on it, a leather cuff with an inscription etched into it, in Orcish.

_ Framed pictures fall just as easily as bounty posters. _

            Mal threw the bracelet to the ground and took a step back, “What the fuck was that?!”

            “What?” The (admittedly very pretty, Mal thought) human with the bow asked.

            “That, that bracelet, it, it,” Mal stopped, “Can anyone else read Orcish?”

            No one said anything.

            Mal looked back at the bracelet, “I’m, not sure if that's good or not,”

            “Well, what does it say?” The bow human asked.

            Mal walked over to pick it up, and reread it again to be sure.

_ Even the quietest battle cry will devour the bard’s song. _

            “It-it changed,” Mal said.

            The half-elf walked over to one of the top bunks, it was a simple necklace with a gemstone, the half-elf looked at it, before reeling away and throwing it at the ground.

            “What,” The half-elf started, “The fuck,”

            “Swear,” The tree-top human said, and she reached over for a small stuffed cat on a bottom bunk.

            Judging by the way she shrank away from it, Mal guessed that it wasn't great, much like the bracelet.

            On the last bottom bunk, the dwarf found a notebook, and the archer found a knife.

            The notebook was nearly ripped to shreds, and the archer was frozen in place.

            “Let's just get some sleep,” the half-elf whispered.

            No one objected, they all just settled in a bunk, the same one their object was in, although, now they were all stashed far away from the bunks. No one wanted them near themselves.

**Author's Note:**

> HEY I DONT KNOW IF I WANT TO ADD MORE MAYBE MAYBE NOT WHO KNOWS NOT ME


End file.
